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EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs to meet their colleagues
from the Mediterranean area in The Hague
On 29 and 30 November, Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs
Bernard Bot is to preside over a meeting between the EU and
the countries around the Mediterranean Sea.
This meeting is to be held within the framework of the
Barcelona Process and will be attended by the ministers of
foreign affairs from the EU states and the ministers of
foreign affairs from Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan,
Morocco, the Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, Syria,
Tunisia and Turkey. In addition, Libya will be present as a
special guest of the Presidency and Mauritania as an
observer.
This is the only regional forum where Israel and its Arab
neighbours sit together at the table and speak about the
peace process in the Middle East among other things.
The meeting is taking place at a time when developments in
the Middle East and relations with the Arab world are of
crucial importance: the status of the peace process after
the death of Palestinian leader Arafat, Iraq and modernising
the Middle East are subjects of current interest and will be
on the agenda. Ministers will look ahead to the ten-year
anniversary of the Barcelona Process in November 2005 and
present their vision of future co-operation between the EU
and the Mediterranean countries.
Besides these political developments and issues concerning
the security of the EU and the Mediterranean region
(terrorism, non-proliferation), the Barcelona Process also
addresses economic and social-cultural topics. The ministers
will therefore talk about economic reforms and investments
as well as the “dialogue of cultures”, which will take shape
with the establishment of the Anna Lindh Foundation in
Alexandria.
The Barcelona Process thus forms the central framework in
which EU policy with regard to the Mediterranean countries
is created and implemented. The most important objective is
not only to discuss these subjects of common importance, but
also achieve more intensive co-operation. In support of
this, the European Commission has made considerable
financial resources available, known as the MEDA programme
(approximately 1 billion Euros per year).
The significance of developing the EU’s relations with the
Mediterranean region is also specified in the ‘Strategic
partnership with the Middle East and the Mediterranean
region’, which was adopted during the European Council in
June.
The meeting will take place in the Netherlands Congress
centre (NCC), The Hague. For more information, you may
consult the Dutch EU presidency website (http://www.eu2004.nl).
Programme for the Euromed Ministerial Meeting
Monday, 29 November 2004
3.15 pm – 4.15 pm
EU – Troika meeting with Israel
4.30 pm – 5.30 pm
EU-Troika meeting with Arab countries
5.30 pm – 6 pm
Press conference at the NCC, Carel Willink Hall
Tuesday, 30 November 2004
9.30 am – 10.15 am
Opening session
10.15 am – 1.15 pm
Plenary session
1.20 pm
Family photo
1.30 pm – 2 pm
Press conference at the NCC, Carel Willink Hall
1.30 pm – 3.30 pm
Lunch
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